The Economic and Social Research Council recently created a new kind of grant, intended to ensure that existing and continuing research work has an impact rather than funding new and basic research into aspects of society.

Professor Chris Gaine of the University of Chichester has been awarded one of these new grants, one of only six nationally and the only one focusing upon the issue of new immigration.

Issues to do with race and ethnic or cultural differences are Professor Gaine’s special interest. He has previously carried out work for public agencies in different parts of Britain, especially outside the big cities, and his recently completed study for the Chichester District Council into the impact of new immigration from eastern Europe was one of the starting points for this new grant.

He has also worked on website-based school materials about these issues in the UK, Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic.

The new project will ensure that previous research has an impact upon the process of immigration into the local area. This may involve further work with local councils and public services, with employers, with housing providers and with immigrant workers themselves.

One issue Professor Gaine is concerned to stress is that this work is not mainly about problems. There is very strong evidence that the immigrants are young, healthy workers who bring great benefit to the local area, actually generating new jobs and stimulating the economy as well as doing many low-paid jobs that do not appeal to local workers (of which there are not enough anyway, in an area of low unemployment).

One intended impact of his work is to reduce misunderstandings and myths about the immigrants; another is to work with local agencies to ensure communication and information is effective, thus avoiding unnecessary extra costs.